On Saturday, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was presented to three female activists and political leaders for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights." The trio of laureates follow only a dozen other women among 85 men, as well as a number of organizations, to have won the peace prize over its 110-year history. We play excerpts from their acceptance speeches. "The Nobel Committee cannot...

Glenn Greenwald’s new book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," offers a scathing critique of what he calls the two-tiered system of justice that ensures the political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution in the United States. Greenwald explores how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced...

In a Democracy Now! exclusive interview, we speak to Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Yemeni activist, Tawakkul Karman. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a resolution calling on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately step down after 33 years in power. All five permanent members of the Security Council back the measure, which "strongly condemns" government violence against demonstrators. The popular uprising in...

MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned linguist and political dissident, spoke Monday night at Barnard College in New York City about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just hours before Israel and Hamas completed a historic prisoner exchange. "I think [Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit] should have been released a long time ago. But there’s something missing from this whole story. There’s no pictures of Palestinian...

Yemeni activist and journalist, Tawakkul Karman, was one of the recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize awarded Friday. Karman spoke in New York City at the Brecht Forum in September 2010 about state violence, targeted killings and human rights abuses enabled by the so-called "war on terror." Democracy Now! was there and brings you part of her address. Karman notes that by cooperating with the Yemeni government’s repression of...

Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkul Karman, one of three recipients who split the award this year, spoke in New York City at the Brecht Forum last year about state violence, targeted killings, and human rights abuses enabled by the so-called "war on terror." Democracy Now! was there, and we bring you her address. [includes rush transcript]

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a trio of recipients: Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee. The three women were cited "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." The trio of laureates follow only a dozen other women among 85 men to have won the prize...

In an interview, Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman said her Nobel Peace Prize is a victory for Yemen and for all of the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Karman is a 32-year-old journalist and the head of the Yemeni nonprofit group Women Journalists Without Chains. She was detained for a time during the political unrest earlier this year. She is the first Arab female to win the Nobel Peace Prize and is believed to be the youngest winner of the peace...

The United States has confirmed the killing of the radical Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, in northern Yemen. The Obama administration says al-Awlaki is one of the most influential al-Qaeda operatives on its "most wanted" list. In response to news of al-Awlaki’s death, constitutional scholar Glenn Greenwald and others argue the assassination of U.S. citizens without due process has now has become a reality. "One...

In Yemen, the government’s violent crackdown on protesters has intensified, leading to the bloodiest two days in several months. At least 21 protesters have been killed today in the capital of Sana’a. On Sunday, 26 demonstrators were gunned down, and hundreds were injured. Demonstrators are calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule as he has repeatedly broken promises to step down. Last week, Saleh...